Removable and reusable protective envelope to display document

ABSTRACT

A device for displaying a document comprises a front transparent planar sheet and a rear planar sheet, each sheet having three edges that are coterminous with and permanently affixed to a corresponding edge of the other sheet, thereby forming an envelope having three sealed edges and an open end. The device further comprises an adhesive strip affixed to either the front sheet or the rear sheet and positioned across the open end between the front and rear sheets to selectively seal the open end, an interior edge seal positioned interiorly to the three sealed edges, thereby forming a double edge seal along the three sealed edges, and a first corner seal and a second corner seal, each extending onto but not all the way through the adhesive strip on opposite ends of the open end.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to pending U.S. Provisional ApplicationSer. No. 62/597,019, filed Dec. 11, 2017, Ser. No. 62/545,715, filedAug. 15, 2017, Ser. No. 62/541,336, filed Aug. 4, 2017, and Ser. No.62/458,192, filed Feb. 13, 2017, the contents of which are incorporatedherein by reference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to document holders, and morespecifically to removable and reusable holders for displaying documents.

BACKGROUND

Car dealers are required by federal and state law to displayinformational labels prominently on new and used vehicles offered forsale. Such labels include Monroney labels, used car buyers guides,vehicle addendum labels, and the like. Such labels are typically printedon stickers that are affixed to one of a vehicle's door windows. Suchlabels are typically placed on the inside of the window for protectionfrom the weather (wind, rain, etc.).

Unfortunately, the conventional stickers and placement thereof haveseveral drawbacks. Vehicle door windows are often tinted dark, whichmakes it difficult, or impossible to read stickers on the inside of thewindow. The stickers must use a strong enough adhesive to remainsecurely affixed to the window as the window is raised and lowered, butsuch a strong adhesive can make it difficult for a dealer or a buyer toremove the stickers. While removing the stickers and or labels, thestickers or labels often tear and leave a residue on the window,resulting in additional costs in cleanup and replacement of the stickersor labels. When the windows are operated, the labels and their sleevestear and this has led to the dealers often asking that the windows notbe operated by the buyers, or the dealerships will often lock thewindows so that they cannot be operated by the buyers. The stickers mustbe printed on specialty stock with the required adhesive, which makesthe stickers quite expensive to produce and the stickers must beprocured from a source that is capable of printing such custom work.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

In one embodiment of the invention, a device for displaying a documentcomprises a front transparent planar sheet and a rear planar sheet, eachsheet having three edges that are coterminous with and permanentlyaffixed to a corresponding edge of the other sheet, thereby forming anenvelope having three sealed edges and an open end. The device furthercomprises an adhesive strip affixed to either the front sheet or therear sheet and positioned across the open end between the front and rearsheets to selectively seal the open end, a protective strip removablyaffixed to the adhesive strip to prevent the open end from sealing whenthe protective strip is in place on the adhesive strip and to enable theopen end to be sealed when the protective strip is removed from theadhesive strip, an interior edge seal positioned interiorly to the threesealed edges, thereby forming a double edge seal along the three sealededges, and a first corner seal and a second corner seal, each extendingonto but not all the way through the adhesive strip on opposite ends ofthe open end.

The first and second corner seals may each extend (i) from an adjacentone of the sealed edges, (ii) from an adjacent portion of the interioredge seal, or (iii) from an adjacent end of the interior edge seal ontobut not all the way through the adhesive strip. The first and secondcorner seals may each comprise a first portion extending at an angle (i)from the adjacent one of the sealed edges, (ii) from the adjacentportion of the interior edge seal, or (iii) from the adjacent end of theinterior edge seal, and at least one second portion extending from thefirst portion onto but not all the way through the adhesive strip. Thefirst portion of each of the first and second corner seals may extendperpendicularly (i) from the adjacent one of the sealed edges, (ii) fromthe adjacent portion of the interior edge seal, or (iii) from theadjacent end of the interior edge seal. The at least one second portionof each of the first and second corner seals may extend from itsrespective first portion perpendicularly to a longitudinal axis of theadhesive strip. The at least one second portion of each of the first andsecond corner seals may comprise two parallel second portions.

The protective strip may extend beyond one or both ends of the adhesivestrip when the protective strip is in place on the adhesive strip.

The device may further comprise an adhesive applied to the rear sheet ona side opposite the front sheet.

In alternative embodiments of the invention, a method of displaying adocument on a motor vehicle comprises (a) inserting a document into adevice for displaying a document (as described above), (b) removing theprotective strip from the adhesive strip and pressing the front and rearsheets together along the protective strip to seal the open end, and (c)affixing the device to either an exterior side or an interior side of awindow of a motor vehicle such that the rear sheet is against thewindow. The method may further comprise removing a protective coveringfrom an adhesive applied to the rear sheet on a side opposite the frontsheet prior to affixing the device to the window.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are notnecessarily drawn to scale. The following detailed description of thedisclosure will be better understood when read in conjunction with theappended drawings. It should be understood, however, that the disclosureis not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.In the drawings:

FIGS. 1 and 2 are, respectively, rear and front exploded perspectiveviews of a removable and reusable protective document holder, inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the document holder of FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIGS. 4A-P illustrate several different corner seal configurations ofembodiments of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a removable and reusable protective documentholder, in accordance with alternative embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 6 is a front view of a removable and reusable protective documentholder, in accordance with alternative embodiments of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

Certain terminology is used in the following description for convenienceonly and is not limiting. The words “lower,” “bottom,” “upper,” and“top” designate directions in the drawings to which reference is made.The words “inwardly,” “outwardly,” “upwardly” and “downwardly” refer todirections toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center ofthe device, and designated parts thereof, in accordance with the presentdisclosure. Unless specifically set forth herein, the terms “a,” “an”and “the” are not limited to one element, but instead should be read asmeaning “at least one.” The terminology includes the words noted above,derivatives thereof and words of similar import.

Embodiments of the invention are directed to a protective envelope fordisplaying documents, such as vehicle stickers and labels as describedabove. The protective envelope of embodiments of the invention fullyencloses the document (typically one document in each envelope, althoughmore than one document could be placed in an envelope) to protect thedocument from damage due to weather (rain, snow, wind, etc.), airflowresulting from movement of the vehicle, friction damage from theoperation of lowering and raising the vehicle window, and the like. Theprotective envelope of embodiments of the invention comprises a sleeveinto which a document may be inserted via a resealable opening. Theresealable opening advantageously enables the document to be removed andreplaced as needed. A reusable adhesive enables the resealable openingto be securely closed to keep out weather and enables the resealableopening to be readily opened as needed to insert or remove a document.In fact, the reusable adhesive enables repeated opening and closing ofthe resealable opening without losing the ability to effectively sealthe opening when closed.

Importantly, the protective envelope of embodiments of the invention maybe waterproof to an IPX7 rating when the opening is sealed, therebyprotecting the document within. It is believed that no other knowndocument display envelope is waterproof to an IPX7 rating.

The protective envelope of embodiments of the invention is selectivelyaffixable to a vehicle window (and other similar surfaces) andselectively removable therefrom. A reusable adhesive enables theselective affixation and removal of the protective envelope. Thereusable adhesive enables the protective envelope to remain securelyaffixed to a window or like surface, but to also be readily removedwithout leaving behind adhesive residue. In fact, the reusable adhesiveenables repeated affixing and removal of the protective envelope withoutlosing the ability to remain securely affixed to a window or likesurface.

The low profile and secure construction of the protective envelope ofembodiments of the invention enables the protective envelope to remainsecurely affixed to a window as the window is repeatedly opened andclosed.

The protective envelope of embodiments of the invention may beconstructed in any desired size, generally depending on the size of thedocument to be displayed in the envelope. Exemplary embodiments of theinvention may have overall dimensions of 32 centimeter (cm)×25.4 cm,23.2 cm×37 cm, 29.4 cm×45.1 cm, 32 cm×46.8 cm, and 32.4 cm×47.2 cm.

Referring now to the figures wherein like numerals indicate likeelements throughout, embodiments of the invention comprise a removableand reusable protective document holder or envelope 10. The protectiveenvelope 10 comprises a front wall 12 constructed of a relatively stiff,transparent sheet of vinyl (polyvinyl chloride or PVC) joined to a rearwall 14 also constructed of a relatively stiff, transparent sheet ofvinyl (the rear wall 14 need not necessarily be transparent, however itmay be desirable to use the same material for both the front and rearwalls), thereby forming a sleeve. In one embodiment of the invention,the front wall 12 and rear wall 14 are constructed of a vinyl laminatingsheet, such as a multi-layered 3 mil vinyl low heat rolled filmlaminating sheet manufactured by plastic film companies such as ArminInnovative Products Inc, or the like. In another embodiment of theinvention, the front wall 12 and rear wall 14 are constructed of a 0.18millimeter thick PVC sheet. One or both of the front and rear walls mayinclude UV protection, either as a coating or incorporated into thevinyl.

The rear wall 14 may be longer (or taller) on one side than the frontwall 12 to form a tab 16 that facilitates opening the resealableopening. (Alternatively, the front wall 12 may be longer (or taller) onone side than the rear wall 14 to form a tab that facilitates openingthe resealable opening.) The figures illustrate an elongated tab thatruns the entire length of one side. However, one or more smaller tabsmay alternatively be formed. In one exemplary embodiment of theinvention, the front wall is 6 millimeters (mm) inches longer than therear wall, such that the tab is 6 mm tall.

As described above, the protective envelope 10 is selectively affixableto a vehicle window (and other similar surfaces) and selectivelyremovable therefrom. A reusable adhesive enables the selectiveaffixation and removal of the protective envelope 10. The back surfaceof the rear wall 14 sits against the glass of the vehicle window whenthe envelope is affixed thereto. A reusable adhesive 26 is applied onthe back surface of the rear wall 14, as illustrated in FIG. 1. As seenin FIG. 1, reusable adhesive 26 comprises a large sheet that covers mostor all of the back surface of the rear wall 14. FIG. 1 illustrates a gaparound the perimeter of the reusable adhesive 26 for clarity, such thatthe entire rear wall 14 is not covered. However, it may be desirable tohave the reusable adhesive 26 extend as close to the perimeter of therear wall as possible to ensure that the edges of the envelope 10 adhereto the window to ensure that the window can be lowered and raisedwithout disturbing the envelope. The adhesive used to secure theenvelope to a vehicle window may be a transparent adhesive, which wouldenable the document to be visible either through the front wall or theback wall of the envelope.

The reusable adhesive 26 is preferably selected such that there is astrong bond (permanent or near permanent) between the reusable adhesive26 and the back side of the rear wall 14, thereby enabling theprotective envelope to be repeatedly affixed to and removed from thewindow without the reusable adhesive 26 pulling away from the rear wall.To protect the surface of the reusable adhesive 26 during packing,shipping, and storage, a peelable film or paper (not illustrated),typically comprising a low surface paper, is placed over the reusableadhesive 26 so that the reusable adhesive 26 maintains its adhesiveproperties until the protective envelope is to be affixed to a vehicle,at which point the user may remove the peelable film. In one exemplaryembodiment of the invention, the reusable adhesive 26 is a hightemperature, removable adhesive roll, such as Tesa Tape 2262 from TesaTape, Inc. or an equivalent (such an equivalent may be applied at about60 grams per square meter with a gumming thickness of about 24-27micrometers.

Alternatively (not illustrated), the reusable adhesive for affixing theprotective envelope to the window may be applied at the edges of theback surface of the rear wall. In such an alternative embodiment, thereusable adhesive may be applied to the back surface of the rear wall ina relatively thin strip (e.g., 6 mm) around the perimeter. In otheralternative embodiments of the invention, the reusable adhesive may beaffixed to the back surface of the rear wall in other arrangements.

A low density foam seal strip 18, such as Tesa Tape 04914 or anequivalent (such an equivalent may have a width of 12 mm and a thicknessof 0.08 mm), is applied to the front side of the rear wall 14 (the frontside of the rear wall 14 eventually becomes the inside of the protectiveenvelope, along with the back side of the front wall 12). The seal strip18 is positioned along the edge that will become the opening of theprotective envelope. The seal strip is preferably selected such that astrong bond (permanent or near permanent) is formed between the sealstrip and the front side of the rear wall. A removable protective strip20 is placed on top of the seal strip 18, which enables the seal stripto maintain its adhesive properties and prevents the opening from beingsealed until a user is ready to seal the protective envelope and pullsoff the removable strip 20. The removable protective strip 20 may bemade from a soft PVC liner material, such as a 0.002″ thick PVC linerprotective peel strip for adhesive stripping, or from a 0.06 mm thickPET peel strip. A paper removable strip or the like will not provide thedesired bonding described below.

The seal strip 18 is positioned parallel to the edge, and far enoughaway from the edge so that the seal strip 18 is fully covered by thefront wall 12 when the front and rear walls are joined (as describedbelow) (this is seen in FIG. 3, in which the seal strip (covered by aprotective strip 20) is slightly below the top edge of the front wall12).

After the seal strip 18 is affixed to the rear wall 14 and covered bythe protective strip 20, the front wall 12 and the rear wall 14 arepositioned together with three edges (bottom and side edges in thefigures) aligned (the fourth edge is not aligned because the front wall12 is shorter than the rear wall 14) and placed together into a highfrequency radio wave (HFRW) machine to heat seal and bond the wallstogether. The HFRW machine uses the necessary size and configurationbrass electrodes to create the seals described below. A HFRW machinewill not seal or bond any material that is not PVC based. A speciallydesigned tool creates all the bonds described below, and cuts theprotective envelope to size. Importantly, all the bonding and cutting isdone at the same time.

The three sides that do not form the opening (left, right, and bottom inFIG. 3) are heat sealed at and slightly inward from the edges of thecombined front and back walls. At the end of the process, the sleeve isthen die cut to size. The die cutter has a heated knife edge which heatseals the outermost edge of the three sides. This provides a double sealaround these three sides—one seal 21 at the outermost edge and one seal22 about 1 mm from the edge (shown in dashed line for clarity)—whichfurther improves the weatherproofing and waterproofing of the envelope.

In conventional PVC pockets or sleeves, edge seals are provided on thevery extreme edges of the PVC sheets. Such conventional edge seals areweak and prone to failure. The double edge sealing (including cutting tosize with a heated knife edge to seal the outer edges) of theembodiments of the invention provide nearly edge-to-edge coverage,without the shortcomings of conventional edge seals.

As seen in FIG. 3, F-shaped seals 24 are formed at the corners where theseal strip and cover 18, 20 meets the side edges. Each seal 24 has afirst portion extending inward from the side edges below (i.e., oppositethe opening) the seal strip and cover 18, 20 and two spaced-apart secondportions extending from the first portion into (but, importantly, notthrough) the seal strip and cover 18, 20. Each first portion may extendgenerally perpendicular from its respective edge and be generallyparallel to the seal strip and cover 18, 20 as shown, or may be at adifferent angle. The second portions may extend upward (i.e., toward theopening) generally perpendicular from their respective first portions(and be generally perpendicular to the seal strip and cover 18, 20) asshown, or may be at different angles. The second portions of each seal24 may be generally parallel to each other as shown, or may be atdifferent angles. Each seal 24 may have two second portions as shown, ormay each have one second portion or more than two second portions. Thespacing between the second portions of each seal 24 is exaggerated inFIG. 3 for clarity, and would typically be closer together and closer tothe respective side edges to maximize the size of the opening of theenvelope.

The F-shaped seals 24 prevent water from tunneling into the envelopealong edges of the seal strip. It is important that the second portionsdo not extend all the way through the seal strip and cover 18, 20, asthat would create an opportunity for water to tunnel along the secondportions into the envelope. In the illustrated embodiment, the secondportions of the seals 24 extend from the first portion about half wayinto the seal strip and cover 18, 20 (although this may vary somewhat,it is desirable to have a significant portion of the seal strip andcover 18, 20 above the end of the second portions to ensure that theseal strip 18 seals the front and back walls sufficiently at thesepoints). In one specific embodiment of the invention, the seal strip andcover 18, 20 are about 10-12 mm wide and the second portions extendabout 5-6 mm into the seal strip and cover 18, 20. The heat sealingelectrodes used to create the F-shaped seals 24 are typically largerthan the electrodes used to create the edge seals 22.

The use of a PVC liner to create the cover 20 results in a differenttype/quality of seal for the part of the F-shaped seal 24 that is withinthe seal strip and the part of the F-shaped seal 24 that is below theseal strip. The part of the F-shaped seal 24 that is below the sealstrip is a permanent, solid-state bond that cannot be separated withoutdamaging the envelope. The part of the F-shaped seal 24 that is withinthe seal strip can be separated and re-sealed (as described below). Theprocess of creating the F-shaped seals creates correspondingindentations (in the F-shapes) in the front wall 12 and the rear wall14, which aid in the re-sealing of the part of the F-shaped seal 24 thatis within the seal strip.

To seal the envelope, a user grasps the seal strip cover 20 about at itsmidpoint and pulls the cover 20 away from the seal strip 18, taking careto ensure that the opposing ends of the cover 20 are pulled entirely outof the F-shaped seal 24. This temporarily breaks the part of theF-shaped seal 24 that is within the seal strip. The opening is thensealed by the user pressing down on the front and/or rear walls alongthe seal strip and especially pressing down on the two F-shaped seals 24to re-seal the F-shaped seals 24.

When the protective strip is removed and the opening is sealed, theprotective envelope of embodiments of the invention may be waterproof toan IPX7 rating.

A heat sealing and cutting tool (not illustrated) is used forconstructing the document holder of FIGS. 1 and 2. The tool comprises agenerally rectangular (although other shapes may be used) main body witha heated knife edge around the entire main body for creating theoutermost edge seal and cutting the protective envelope 10 to size, anedge seal electrode for creating edge seal 22, and an electrode forcreating the F-shaped seal 24. The edge seal electrode would not extendaround the entire main body, as the top corners (above the F-shapedseal) and the top edge of the protective envelope 10 do not have an edgeseal.

In addition to the F-shaped corners seals described above, manydifferent corner seal configurations may be possible. FIGS. 4A-Pillustrate several different possible corner seal configurations thatmay be used for the document holder of embodiments of the invention. Forsimplicity, FIGS. 4A-P illustrate only the upper left corner of thedocument holder. The corner seal on the upper right corner wouldtypically be a mirror image. FIGS. 4A-P illustrate, respectively,alternative corner seals 104, 114, 124, 134, 144, 154, 164, 174, 184,194, 204, 214, 224, 234, 244, and 254.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a removable and reusable protective documentholder 50, in accordance with alternative embodiments of the presentinvention. As in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3, the protective envelope 50of FIG. 5 comprises a front wall 52 joined to a rear wall 54. The rearwall 54 is longer (or taller) on one side than the front wall 52 to forma tab 56 that facilitates opening the resealable opening. A reusableadhesive (not illustrated) is applied on the back surface of the rearwall 54. A low density foam seal strip (not illustrated as the sealstrip is behind the protective strip 60 in FIG. 6) is applied to thefront side of the rear wall 54. The seal strip is positioned along (ator near) the edge that will become the opening of the protectiveenvelope. Prior to applying the seal strip, the location where the sealstrip is to be applied is primed to allow the seal strip to permanentlybond to the rear wall 54. A removable protective strip 60 is placed ontop of the seal strip, which enables the seal strip to maintain itsadhesive properties and prevents the opening from being sealed until auser is ready to seal the protective envelope and pulls off theremovable strip 60. The three sides that do not form the opening (left,right, and bottom in FIG. 5) are heat sealed at and slightly inward fromthe edges of the combined front and back walls. At the end of theprocess, the sleeve is then die cut to size. The die cutter has a heatedknife edge which heat seals the outermost edge of the three sides. Thisprovides a double seal around these three sides—one seal 61 at theoutermost edge and one seal 62 about 1 mm from the edge (shown in dashedline for clarity)—which further improves the weatherproofing andwaterproofing of the envelope.

As seen in FIG. 5, corner seals 64 are formed at the corners where theseal strip (not illustrated) and cover 60 meet the side edges. Eachcorner seal 64 has a first portion extending inward from the respectiveside edge below (i.e., opposite the opening) the seal strip (notillustrated) and cover 60 and two spaced-apart second portions extendingfrom the first portion into (but, importantly, not through) the sealstrip (not illustrated) and cover 60. In this alternative embodiment,the first portion extends upward and inward from its respective edge,and is therefore at an angle to its respective side edge and to the sealstrip (not illustrated) and cover 60 as shown. The angle will typicallybe between about 30 and 60 degrees relative to the respective side edge,however any suitable angle may be used. The second portions may extendupward (i.e., toward the opening) generally vertically from theirrespective first portions (and be generally perpendicular to the sealstrip (not illustrated) and cover 60) as shown, or may be at differentangles. The second portions of each corner seal 64 may be generallyparallel to each other as shown, or may be at different angles. Eachcorner seal 64 may have two second portions as shown, or may each haveone second portion or more than two second portions. The spacing betweenthe second portions of each corner seal 64 is exaggerated in FIG. 5 forclarity, and would typically be closer together and closer to therespective side edges to maximize the size of the opening of theenvelope.

A heat sealing and cutting tool (not illustrated) is used forconstructing the alternative document holder of FIG. 5. The toolcomprises a generally rectangular (although other shapes may be used)main body with a heated knife edge around the entire main body forcreating the outermost edge seal and cutting the protective envelope 50to size, an edge seal electrode for creating edge seal 62, and anelectrode for creating the corner seal 64. The edge seal electrode wouldnot extend around the entire main body, as the top corners (above thecorner seal) and the top edge of the protective envelope 50 do not havean edge seal.

FIG. 6 is a front view of a removable and reusable protective documentholder 80, in accordance with alternative embodiments of the presentinvention. As in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3 and 5, the protectiveenvelope 80 of FIG. 6 comprises a front wall 82 joined to a rear wall84. The rear wall 84 is longer (or taller) on one side than the frontwall 82 to form a tab 86 that facilitates opening the resealableopening. A reusable adhesive (not illustrated) is applied on the backsurface of the rear wall 84. A low density foam seal strip (notillustrated as the seal strip is behind the protective strip 90 in FIG.6) is applied to the front side of the rear wall 84. The seal strip ispositioned along (at or near) the edge that will become the opening ofthe protective envelope. Prior to applying the seal strip, the locationwhere the seal strip is to be applied is primed to allow the seal stripto permanently bond to the rear wall 84. A removable protective strip 90is placed on top of the seal strip, which enables the seal strip tomaintain its adhesive properties and prevents the opening from beingsealed until a user is ready to seal the protective envelope and pullsoff the removable strip 90. The three sides that do not form the opening(left, right, and bottom in FIG. 6) are heat sealed at the edges of thecombined front and back walls. A die cutter which has a heated knifeedge both cuts the sleeve to size and heat seals the outermost edges ofthe three sides, thereby creating outer edge seal 91. This heated knifeedge applies enough heat and pressure to seal and cut to size the frontwall 82 and the back wall 84, but not cut the protective strip 90 sothat the protective strip 90 extends beyond the edges of the envelope 80as seen in FIG. 6, thereby making the protective strip 90 easier tograsp and pull off by a user.

To seal the envelope, a user grasps either extended end of the sealstrip cover 90 and pulls the cover 90 away from the seal strip, takingcare to ensure that the cover 90 is pulled entirely out of the cornerseals 94. This temporarily breaks the part of each corner seal 94 thatis within the seal strip. The opening is then sealed by the userpressing down on the front and/or rear walls along the seal strip andespecially pressing down on the corner seals 94 to re-seal the cornerseals 94.

Typically at the same time as the outer edge seal 91 is created, aninner edge seal 92 is created (typically via heat sealing) along thethree sides that do not form the opening. In exemplary embodiments ofthe invention, the inner edge seal 92 is about 10-12 mm spaced apartfrom the outer edge seal 91 (although a greater or lesser spacing may beused). The space between the inner edge seal 92 and the outer edge seal91 is typically not sealed. This provides a double seal around thesethree sides which further improves the weatherproofing and waterproofingof the envelope.

As seen in FIG. 6, corner seals 94 are formed at the corners where theseal strip (not illustrated) and cover 90 meet the side edges. Unlikethe embodiment of FIGS. 1-3 and 5, the corner seals 94 of the embodimentof FIG. 6 are contiguous with the inner edge seal 92. Each seal 94 has afirst portion extending inward from the respective end of the inner edgeseal 92 below (i.e., opposite the opening) the seal strip (notillustrated) and cover 90 and two spaced-apart second portions extendingfrom the first portion into (but, importantly, not through) the sealstrip (not illustrated) and cover 90. In this alternative embodiment,the first portion extends upward and inward from its respective end ofthe inner edge seal 92, and is therefore at an angle to its respectiveside edge and to the seal strip (not illustrated) and cover 90 as shown.The angle will typically be between about 30 and 60 degrees relative tothe respective side edge, however any suitable angle may be used. Thesecond portions may extend upward (i.e., toward the opening) generallyvertically from their respective first portions (and be generallyperpendicular to the seal strip (not illustrated) and cover 90) asshown, or may be at different angles. The second portions of each cornerseal 94 may be generally parallel to each other as shown, or may be atdifferent angles. Each corner seal 94 may have two second portions asshown, or may each have one second portion or more than two secondportions. The spacing between the second portions of each corner seal 94is exaggerated in FIG. 6 for clarity, and would typically be closertogether.

If both the front and rear walls are constructed of transparent materialand if the adhesive on the back side of the rear wall (i.e., the sideaffixed to the window) is transparent, then the protective envelope ofembodiments of the invention may be mounted either to the exterior sideor to the interior side of a vehicle window and the document within theenvelope may still be visible from the exterior of the vehicle (thedocument would need to be inserted into the envelope facing differentdirections depending on whether the envelope was to be mounted to theexterior side or to the interior side of a vehicle window).

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended toinclude any structure, material, or act for performing the function incombination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. Thedescription of the present invention has been presented for purposes ofillustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Theembodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and the practical application, and to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention forvarious embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

1. A device for displaying a document, the device comprising: a fronttransparent planar sheet and a rear planar sheet, each sheet havingthree edges that are coterminous with and permanently affixed to acorresponding edge of the other sheet, thereby forming an envelopehaving three sealed edges and an open end; an adhesive strip affixed toeither the front sheet or the rear sheet and positioned across the openend between the front and rear sheets to selectively seal the open end;a protective strip removably affixed to the adhesive strip to preventthe open end from sealing when the protective strip is in place on theadhesive strip and to enable the open end to be sealed when theprotective strip is removed from the adhesive strip; an interior edgeseal positioned interiorly to the three sealed edges, thereby forming adouble edge seal along the three sealed edges; and a first corner sealand a second corner seal, each extending onto but not all the waythrough the adhesive strip on opposite ends of the open end.
 2. Thedevice of claim 1, wherein the first and second corner seals each extend(i) from an adjacent one of the sealed edges, (ii) from an adjacentportion of the interior edge seal, or (iii) from an adjacent end of theinterior edge seal onto but not all the way through the adhesive strip.3. The device of claim 2, wherein the first and second corner seals eachcomprise: a first portion extending at an angle (i) from the adjacentone of the sealed edges, (ii) from the adjacent portion of the interioredge seal, or (iii) from the adjacent end of the interior edge seal; andat least one second portion extending from the first portion onto butnot all the way through the adhesive strip.
 4. The device of claim 3,wherein the first portion of each of the first and second corner sealsextends perpendicularly (i) from the adjacent one of the sealed edges,(ii) from the adjacent portion of the interior edge seal, or (iii) fromthe adjacent end of the interior edge seal.
 5. The device of claim 3,wherein the at least one second portion of each of the first and secondcorner seals extends from its respective first portion perpendicularlyto a longitudinal axis of the adhesive strip.
 6. The device of claim 3,wherein the at least one second portion of each of the first and secondcorner seals comprises two second portions.
 7. The device of claim 6,wherein the two second portions are parallel to each other.
 8. Thedevice of claim 1, wherein the protective strip extends beyond one orboth ends of the adhesive strip when the protective strip is in place onthe adhesive strip.
 9. The device of claim 1, further comprising anadhesive applied to the rear sheet on a side opposite the front sheet.10. The device of claim 9, wherein the adhesive applied to the rearsheet on a side opposite the front sheet comprises a transparentadhesive.
 11. The device of claim 1, wherein, when the protective stripis removed from the adhesive strip and the open end is sealed, thedevice is waterproof.
 12. The device of claim 11, wherein the device iswaterproof to an IPX7 rating.
 13. A method of displaying a document on amotor vehicle, the method comprising: (a) inserting a document into adevice for displaying a document, the device comprising: a fronttransparent planar sheet and a rear planar sheet, each sheet havingthree edges that are coterminous with and permanently affixed to acorresponding edge of the other sheet, thereby forming an envelopehaving three sealed edges and an open end, wherein the document isinserted through the open end; an adhesive strip affixed to either thefront sheet or the rear sheet and positioned across the open end betweenthe front and rear sheets to selectively seal the open end; a protectivestrip removably affixed to the adhesive strip to prevent the open endfrom sealing when the protective strip is in place on the adhesive stripand to enable the open end to be sealed when the protective strip isremoved from the adhesive strip; an interior edge seal positionedinteriorly to the three sealed edges, thereby forming a double edge sealalong the three sealed edges; and a first corner seal and a secondcorner seal, each extending onto but not all the way through theadhesive strip on opposite ends of the open end; and (b) removing theprotective strip from the adhesive strip and pressing the front and rearsheets together along the protective strip to seal the open end; and (c)affixing the device to a window of a motor vehicle such that the rearsheet is against the window.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein thefirst and second corner seals each extend (i) from an adjacent one ofthe sealed edges, (ii) from an adjacent portion of the interior edgeseal, or (iii) from an adjacent end of the interior edge seal onto butnot all the way through the adhesive strip.
 15. The method of claim 14,wherein the first and second corner seals each comprise: a first portionextending at an angle (i) from the adjacent one of the sealed edges,(ii) from the adjacent portion of the interior edge seal, or (iii) fromthe adjacent end of the interior edge seal; and at least one secondportion extending from the first portion onto but not all the waythrough the adhesive strip.
 16. The method of claim 14, wherein thefirst portion of each of the first and second corner seals extendsperpendicularly (i) from the adjacent one of the sealed edges, (ii) fromthe adjacent portion of the interior edge seal, or (iii) from theadjacent end of the interior edge seal.
 17. The method of claim 14,wherein the at least one second portion of each of the first and secondcorner seals extends from its respective first portion perpendicularlyto a longitudinal axis of the adhesive strip.
 18. The method of claim14, wherein the at least one second portion of each of the first andsecond corner seals comprises two second portions.
 19. The method ofclaim 18, wherein the two second portions are parallel to each other.20. The method of claim 13, wherein the protective strip extends beyondone or both ends of the adhesive strip when the protective strip is inplace on the adhesive strip.
 21. The method of claim 13, furthercomprising removing a protective covering from an adhesive applied tothe rear sheet on a side opposite the front sheet prior to affixing thedevice to the window.
 22. The method of claim 21, wherein the adhesiveapplied to the rear sheet on a side opposite the front sheet comprises atransparent adhesive.
 23. The method of claim 13, wherein, when theprotective strip is removed from the adhesive strip and the open end issealed, the device is waterproof.
 24. The method of claim 23, whereinthe device is waterproof to an IPX7 rating. 25-28. (canceled)